Retaliation
by Aggie Escott
Summary: Dave has a book signing, but not everyone is happy with what he has written.
1. The Signing

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 1  
The Signing

"_**Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and **__**retaliation**__**" – Roberto Assagioli**_

David was having a pleasant day. After the recent harrowing events in which he and Aaron both almost lost their lives, the day was a welcome change. He didn't often get the chance to sit behind a desk and sign books, and it was nice just to sit and chat to the people who read his books.

Several times he had tried to do a signing session, only to be called out onto a case at the last minute.

Today was different though. Today Aaron and Spencer had come with him. They also chatted to the readers, particularly as Aaron and Spencer were mentioned several times in this his latest effort. Dave loved this work, the people were genuinely interested, and asked sensible questions.

He was still embarrassed by his smile. Several teeth had been damaged when he was beaten, and the orthodontist hadn't finished with him yet, but really he was lucky that there was so little permanent damage. Even his fingers were working, although not a hundred percent, certainly a good fifty. His eyelid was fine now, and as long as he didn't exert himself too much, the broken ribs didn't hurt too much.

He had been watching Aaron closely. Aaron was not one to let anything from stopping him working, and if he got tired, he walked with a pronounced limp. He had been told that it could be permanent, but Aaron chose to ignore that information. His hair had grown back where he had head trauma, and his hand was no longer bandaged, and so apart from the limp, he was on top form.

Aaron hadn't mentioned the words that Dave had uttered when he was so ill and thought he was going to die. He still loved Aaron but was happy with the status quo. If Aaron wanted to take it further, fine. If not, well, he had a perfect friend, and to his mind, that was just as important.

He looked over the group of 'fans' around the table, and smiled at them. There had been one reader who had become belligerent, and had to be escorted off by security, but he hadn't come back. But this time there had only been the one. There were those who objected to the content of his books, and very occasionally, these ones tried to take over. But just the one today. That was good.

He looked at Reid. Four young girls were crowding him, and Dave could see he was becoming agitated. He smiled again. He had hoped that coming to a book signing where he could talk about his work with people who were genuinely interested might help him with his self esteem, and help him to chat to strangers. But it wasn't to be. At least not today!

The pile of books was getting low, and his recently attached fingers were starting to hurt. He had some pain killing pills in the car, with some cream to rub in. He beckoned to Aaron.

'My hand's starting to stiffen up.' he said. 'I'm going to the car to fetch the cream and take a couple of pain killers.' he said. Aaron nodded, and Dave departed the brightly lit room to go to the car.

The car was parked a street away. The bookstore was right in the centre of town, and parking was at a premium. They were lucky to get this close. As he got closer to the car, he noticed that the belligerent young man was standing next to it, waiting for him. Now he knew why the man hadn't tried to get back in.

'Can I help you?' Dave said, opening the trunk without turning his back to him.

'I doubt that very much after writing this rubbish.' he replied.

'I'm sorry that you feel that way, Sir.' Dave said, trying not to get annoyed. 'But you don't have to read it.'

He retrieved the bag with the things in that he needed. He thought that he'd take some pain killers back for Aaron too, since it had been a long day for both of them. He wanted to get back to the bookstore as quickly as he could. He felt vulnerable out here unarmed, faced with a much younger man who in all likelihood was armed.

'I need to get back. If you are unhappy with your book, please post it back to me and I will refund you.'

'You can have it back right now.' he said and threw it at Dave. Dave put his hand up in front of his face and the book fell to the floor.

'I really must be getting back.' Dave said, and turned his back on the young man and took a step back along the road. The young man pounced on him, and Dave felt cold steel on his throat. He put his hands out in front of him, dropping the bag on the pavement.

'I have a job for you, Scum. You are coming with me.'

Holding Dave by the hair, and the knife not moving from his throat, he was guided to another car parked next to theirs. The man opened the passenger's door and ordered Dave in. Then he made him shuffle across into the driver's seat, and he got in beside him.

'Now drive.'

'Where to?' Dave asked, trying to stall him. The knife was now pressing against his side. He felt it press harder.

'Drive damn it.'

Dave pushed the lever into drive, and the car moved forwards.

-0-0-0-

Aaron looked at his watch. 'Dave's been gone a long time.' he commented.

'The car was a block away.' Spencer said. 'Was he definitely coming back, or was he going to wait at the car for us?'

'Well I thought he was coming back, but now you say that I'm not so sure.' He looked around the room. Most of the people had gone now, and the shop was closing in half an hour. It was dark outside. Maybe he did mean to meet at the car. Aaron packed the few remaining books into the box, and went and told the book store owner that they were going.

'David isn't feeling very well.' Aaron said. 'He'll be in touch.'

Aaron and Spencer stepped out into the night air. It was polluted and dirty, being in the middle of the city, but it felt good to be out of the store. Dave had done well today, and he was likely asleep in the car.

They walked together back through the street. The last few shoppers scurrying to get to the shops before they closed. Aaron knew that he was limping badly, but for today he wasn't an agent with the FBI. He wasn't armed, although he carried his credentials. He was just a guy out walking in the early evening, and it felt good.

'There's the car.' Reid broke into his reverie. 'And I can't see Dave.'

Aaron frowned in puzzlement. Maybe he was lying on the back seat, although he doubted it. Reid ran the last fifty yards to the car. Aaron quickened his pace.

'He's not here.' Reid called to him.

Aaron looked in the car in surprise. He went round the back of the car and picked something up. t was a copy of Dave's book. There was also a bag that contained amongst other things, Dave's pain killers and cream.

'He has been here. The bag is out of the trunk.' Aaron carefully put the book back where he had found it. 'Something has happened to him.'

Reid stooped down and looked at the bag and book on the ground. 'He wasn't armed.' he said. Aaron was on the phone to the CSU. He covered the mouth piece. 'Have you got any crime scene tape in your bag?' Reid nodded, and began to tape off the area.

-0-0-0-

Pretty soon the area was swarming with CSI's processing the scene. There was little to be learned, but hopefully there would be some prints on the book. Dave didn't have a book with him when he left the book store, so presumably, the book had been left by the UnSub. The book was carefully placed in an evidence bag.

'Let me know as soon as you have anything.' Hotch said. It wasn't a request. When the CSI's had gone, and taken the car back to the lab, Hotch and Reid called a cab to get back to the BAU.

'Call the team, Reid. We need to get started on this one.'

-0-0-0-

The young man held the knife steady at Dave's waist. The point was through his clothes, and he could feel the tip of the knife pricking at his skin. He tried to pull away as he drove out of the city. The roads were dark and deserted. He tried to engage the young man, but the knife pressed harder.

'I don't want to hear you, Scum. Drive or I'll kill you here.

Dave did as he was bidden. He had no idea where he was going. This area was pretty much uninhabited, apart from the odd scattered farm houses and out buildings. He guessed that it would be to one of these he was going to be taken.

Suddenly the man said, 'Stop here.'

Dave pulled the car over to the side of the road and put the car into park. The man opened the passenger's door and started to get out. For a moment the knife wasn't pressing against Dave's waist. Now was a chance he might not get again. He pushed open his door and ran from the car. He heard the man following him.

Dave was hampered by not knowing the terrain, or where he was. There were trees and low bushes that seemed to grab at him from the darkness. The man was getting closer, and Dave tried to find the road where he could maybe outrun the man.

But it was no good. Dave had lost his bearings, and he fell as a low branch whipped around his legs. He turned onto his back as the younger man pounced on him. Dave saw the knife flash in the faint moonlight, as the man brought it down onto him.

-0-0-0-

The BAU team, minus David, was sitting around the table in the conference room. Aaron was explaining what had happened. He was fully armed now, and ready for action, and Reid carried his revolver on his belt.

'He was gone for about thirty minutes by the time we reached the car.' Hotch said. 'His book was on the ground, dropped there by the UnSub. He had dropped the bag with the meds in. The CSU have these and are trying to get prints off them. Hopefully there will be prints on the book.'

'Has anyone tried to contact the man at the signing who caused the trouble and had to be thrown out?' Prentiss asked.

'We don't have a name, but Reid and I will get the police artist up here, and see if we can come up with a face, and Garcia might be able to run it through her facial recognition program.'

'I'll visit the nearby shops.' Morgan said. 'There might be some surveillance tapes we can take a look at.'

'Good idea. Take Prentiss with you.' Hotch said.

Reid was on the phone calling the sketch artist to come up to the BAU. The team dismissed, and Hotch and Reid sat and waited.

-0-0-0-

Dave cried out as the knife cut through his clothes and dug deep into his upper arm. He felt the blood almost immediately flow down across his shoulder. The man pulled the knife out and raised it as if to bring it down again. Dave crossed his arms in front of his face. The knife cut into the soft flesh of his fore arm. Then the man got up, and pulled Dave up with him.

'Don't try to run again. Next time you won't get up again.'

The man pushed Dave in front of him, pressing the bloody knife into his back. Dave nursed his cut arm across his chest. It was bleeding, but he didn't think fatally. The man was holding Dave's shoulder and pushing him with the knife. He knew his way between the trees along a narrow path. Dave could feel the trees on either side snatching at him as he passed through, the young man never moving the knife. In the darkness, Dave could make out a small building in the trees. It was towards this that Dave was steered. he stumbled on, blood wetting his chest as his arm bled, the knife pressed into his back, an iron like grip on his shoulder.


	2. Recant

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 2  
Recant

"_**Our capacity to **__**retaliate**__** must be, and is, massive in order to deter all forms of aggression.**__**" – John Foster Dulles**_

David stumbled along in front of his attacker. The moon was a thin sliver in the sky, and there was very little light now the sun was completely gone. He felt brambles whip around his legs as he tried to keep on his feet. He had no doubt that this man would kill him if he thought that he was trying to escape.

He tried to go through the book in his mind and identify whatever it was that had offended this man so much, but he felt light headed with pain. He had felt tired and out of sorts before the attack, his hand was hurting now he had missed his pain killer, and the stabs to his arm were losing a lot of blood. He tried pressing on the wound to his inner arm, but the fingers on his hand were not obeying the messages from his brain, and the best he could do was press his arm tight against his body.

'Where are we going?' he said, a slight tremor in his voice.

The answer was a tightening of the hand on his shoulder and the knife pressing harder. He arched his back away from the lethal blade, and looked ahead at the hut which was starting to come into focus.

There was a door straight ahead, and the man pushed him towards this. He pushed David against the rough wooden wall, and reached around him to open the door. Dave was pushed inside, the knife no longer against the small of his back. The room was dark, the only window was dirty, and only a fraction of the thin moonlight filtered through. He could see a chair in the centre of the room, and it was here that he was made to sit down.

It was a relief to sit. Dave thought that he might faint if he didn't sit down soon.

The blade was held against the back of his neck as his arms were wrenched over the back of the chair, and cable ties were deftly used to hold his shoulders back. The wound in his upper arm poured blood in response to this un natural position. His wrists were then tied together. He breather shallow fast breaths to try to alleviate the new pain that this position brought him. The blade was removed from his neck and he arched his back and rocked his head back to try to eliminate some of the stress on his shoulders.

His captor moved around so that he was standing in front of him. He knelt down and removed Dave's shoes and socks. He went to a long narrow bench that was at one side of the hut. Dave was just noticing what was on it. To his horror, the man picked up a hammer and two six inch nails. Dave suddenly realised what he was going to do, and he pulled his feet up under the chair.

But he was in a helpless position now that his arms were tied to the chair. He felt the point of the nail against the top of his foot, and screamed as the nail was hammered through his flesh and bone into the wooden floor.

'Almost done.' the man said, grinning. 'You will think twice about writing lies by the time I've finished with you.

Dave kicked frantically at the man as he tried to press the nail into his foot. The man used the hammer against the shin of Dave's leg, and for a second he was stilled. But it was long enough. The hammer came down on the second nail, and Dave fainted.

-0-0-0-

Hotch and Reid were sitting with the sketch artist, trying to come up with a decent likeness of the UnSub who they were certain had abducted David. The image that was taking form on the paper was a pretty good likeness, and both agents were pleased with what they were seeing. A thin faced young man in his twenties, dirty blonde unruly hair, clean shaven with piercing blue eyes.

'The mouth isn't quite right.' Reid said.

'The lips need to be a little fuller.' added Hotch. 'But we're getting there.'

The artist adjusted the drawing to their satisfaction, and the two looked at it again.

'That's a pretty good likeness.' Reid said.

'I agree.' Hotch said. He thanked the artist, and gave the drawing to Reid. 'Get copies of this out to the media, and we can take the picture back to the book store to see if this man is remembered. He was particularly unpleasant at the signing. He might have caused trouble there on other days too.

Reid went to the photocopier and made some prints of the picture, and gave the original to JJ for media distribution. He also faxed a copy to Garcia.

'See if you can get anything from it.' Reid said into the phone.

'If he has so much as a driver's licence, I'll find him, Sweetie Pie.' she responded.

-0-0-0-

He woke Dave up with a bucket of water to the face. Dave opened his soft brown eyes and looked at him.

'If I have offended you, I apologise.' he said shakily. 'The books are to entertain. Please tell me what I wrote that has upset you so much.'

'It's all lies!' he shouted, and hit Dave across the face with his fist. His feet moved slightly, and his eyes began to water with the pain. He felt his neck crack and send a bolt of pain into his head. Blood ran from his nose and the corner of his mouth where his teeth had cut into his cheek. He looked up at his aggressor, but said nothing. He guessed that he would find out in due time what this man wanted, until then he decided to keep quiet.

Suddenly the man began to speak. He was pacing up and down in the semi darkness, mumbling to himself. He was incoherent with rage, and Dave tried to make out some of what he was saying, but it didn't make sense. Dave was at the mercy of this psychopath, and he had no idea what he had done wrong in this man's mind. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he didn't want to provoke the man still further.

Suddenly the man turned on him. His fists were clenched, and Dave braced himself ready for another attack. Instead the man spoke directly at him.

'You lied about my father.' he shouted. 'He never killed anyone, now he is dead, and you are spreading lies!'

'Who was your father?' Dave asked softly, desperate not to upset the man further.

'I am Aiden Rush. Does that ring a bell in your lying head?' He stepped closer to Dave and yanked his head back by the hair.

'Carson Rush was your father? We thought that he had no children.'

Dave thought hard about the man Rush that he had written about. He had died in a prison fight while on remand. He never went to trial for the killings he perpetrated. He was an evil SOB, and the team had all been relieved when he died. A clever defender might have got him off, as the profile was the main evidence against him. There was of course other evidence.

'My father was never tried for the crimes you pinned on him. He was innocent, never proven guilty. Yet you name him in your book as a killer.' Rush raged.

Dave tried to think how he had missed the fact that Carson Rush had a son. A son in much the same mold as his father too. He found it difficult to believe that something so important was missed.

'Were you.......' A punch in the stomach stopped the words, and air wooshed out of Dave's lungs. He thought he was going to be sick. Then Rush kicked him in the shin. Dave saw it coming and tried to grip the floor with his toes, but the kick moved his foot and he cried out in agony as the nail tore his flesh. He leaned forward and vomited on the floor. His head hung forwards, he was too exhausted to raise his head and look at his captor.

-0-0-0-

Garcia looked at her screen in frustration. There was nothing. Nothing in the driver's licence database, nothing fron her facial recognition software. She had been so sure that she would be able to find him, but nothing was coming up. She ran it again, not expecting anything different.

David Rossi was the newest member of the BAU team, but it was as if he had always been there. He was a kind gentle man, and intensely private, and she was fond of him. The thought that he was in danger broke her heart. She had to find something.

Her phone rang. It was Hotch.

'I haven't found anything yet.' she said, 'but I am trying again.'

'Reid had an idea, Penelope.' Hotch said. 'It seems that this UnSub had something against the book Rossi was signing. Cross reference the perpetrators in the book with the picture and see if you come up with anything – you know, known associates, family etc.'

'Ok, I'm on it right now.' she said. 'I'll let you know.'

She had a copy of the book in her bag. She had read some of it, but not finished it yet. She opened it at the first chapter, and ran the name.

Hotch was looking at the CSU report. They had retrieved several prints from the book. Some were Dave's where he had signed it, and the others all belonged to the same person. But the person was not on the AFIS database, and so unless they caught someone, there was nothing to compare them to.

-0-0-0-

'Look at me, or I'll hurt you again.'

Dave lifted his head and looked Rush in the eye. Their eyes seemed to lock, and Rush looked away. He was holding a small recording device in his hands.

'I want you to recant what you said about my father.' he said. 'Tell your publisher that you got it wrong, and you want the books taken off the shelves to be re written.'

'Ok I'll do that, but it won't change the facts.' Dave said. 'He was about to.....'

Again his words were cut off this time he was punched full in the face, pushing his head back, and his neck cracked again. The pain it shot into his head stayed, and Dave's vision blurred.

'Enough from you! Now recant what you wrote!'

The recording device was held next to his face, and the red record light was on. Dave began to speak.

'This is David Rossi. The man named Carson Rush in my book Serial Profilers was innocent of the crimes he was charged with. Please remove the books from the shelves.'

'That will do for a start. I don't trust you not to put in secret codes.' He took the tape from the device and put it in his pocket.

I will send that later. Now I will punish you for lying in the first place.'

He went back to the bench and left the device there. He picked up a ratchet handle and came back across to Dave.

Dave blinked, trying to restore his vision. He could see that Rush was carrying something, but couldn't see what it was. He soon felt it though as it was cracked across his shins. The nails tore, and he opened his mouth to scream. He felt blood pour over his feet as the moved with each attack. Then it suddenly stopped. Dave tried to get his breath back, panting shallow breaths.

Rush went behind him, and Dave tried to turn to see what he was going to do. he clenched his fingers in fists as he realised what Rush was going to do.

He brought the ratchet handle down on his hands. Dave passed out.


	3. Deja Vu

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 3  
Déjà Vu

'_Every body has to die.' Dr McNeil, Chicago Hope_

Dave's picture and the sketch of the UNSub was on the front of all the papers now. If any body recognised the sketch they would have phone was ringing, and Hotch hoped it would be a lead..............

Hotch put the phone down. Dave's publishers had rung – they had a tape that might interest the police. They were sending it over by courier. He went down into the bull pen and told Morgan.

Morgan had a pile of video tapes he was wading through with Reid's help. There were mostly residential properties along the street where David was abducted, but most of them had security cameras facing the road, since they were in a city that was fraught with crime. If they could just see the vehicle that took Rossi, it would be a step closer to the UnSub.

They had images of Dave walking to the car, but nothing yet of what happened at the car. If they could just get a picture of the UnSub, at least they would know that they were chasing the right guy

In his mind Hotch tried to fit together all the evidence they had so far – which was pretty meagre to say the least. Penelope had come up with nothing with her facial recognition, and she was working her way through the book now. So far it was purely circumstantial that it had anything to do with the belligerent young man at the signing. They could be chasing the wrong person altogether.

-0-0-0-

Dave was in intense pain. He thought that most of his fingers were broken and he could feel blood dripping from his fingertips. Blood was running down his legs and dripping into the pool of blood around his impaled feet. He coughed and spat out blood onto the floor. He had been left alone for several hours and he knew that he ought to try to sleep, but with every breath he could feel the broken ends of his ribs dig into flesh that they had no right to. He was light headed through blood loss and dehydration.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his feet. About an inch of nail stuck up on each foot. He tried moving his toes, to see how much damage had been done, but it hurt too much and he gave up.

He tried to think about what had happened. If the tape was sent to the publishers and they contacted the FBI, Aaron at least would know who to look for. He couldn't understand how they had missed Rush having a son, or even if Aiden was Carson's son. Dave tried to profile the man who was holding him. He was clearly a psychopath, amoral and insane. The thoughts weren't comforting. He was fairly certain that Rush was going to kill him, and this had been set off by what he wrote in Serial Profilers. But he was also worried for Reid and Aaron, who had played a large part in tracking Carson Rush down, and they were named extensively in the book.

So were they in danger too? Where was Rush now? Dave had been alone for a few hours. If only there was a way to get a warning message to Aaron.

When the door opened, Dave jumped and the nails in his feet moved again. He groaned with pain and fresh blood ran down his feet again, joining the pool of congealed blood around his feet.

Rush came up to him, and lifted his head again, his fingers curled into Dave's hair. Dave gave a small cry as the pressure on his shoulder started his arm bleeding again.

'I have sent to tape.' he said. Now I want the entire chapter re written for the next edition of the book.

Dave nodded slowly. 'Do you .... have a ..... recorder?' he said. He was having difficulty articulating now, and he wondered how he would be able to speak for long.

Rush drew a small table up to Dave, and placed a lap top on it.

'You are going to type the correction.' Rush said, and untied Dave's broken hands. He cried out as Rush moved his fingers as he cut the ties holding them. Then he cut those at his shoulders. But Dave couldn't move his arms; they had been in the un natural position for too long, and as blood rushed to his finger tips, and the pain increased, Dave felt tears spring to his eyes.

'I c-can't type.' he said. 'My fingers are broken.'

'You type or you die. It's your choice.'

-0-0-0-

When the tape arrived, Hotch signed for it, and quickly called the team together. He had high hopes for this evidence.

'This tape has been sent to us by Rossi's publishers.' he said. 'It might help us to track down whoever took him.'

He put the tape in the player, and the team listened to the brief message.

But Carson Rush was dead, and according to the file, he had no children, and he worked alone, so there were no known associates. That was why Penelope hadn't been able to fit the sketch to anyone in the book.

So whoever was doing this was doing it for Rush. But who? Was there a family that they had failed to track down, or was it a fan?

Hotch played the message again. Dave sounded tired. Hotch hoped that he hadn't been hurt. He hadn't really recovered fully from their abduction, and was weakened by the experience, although he would never admit to it.

'Penelope, have the prison records checked for any visitors Rush had while he was on remand, and any who went to his funeral, or enquired about it.' Hotch said. 'This UnSub is working in behalf of Rush. We just have to figure out whom.'

-0-0-0-

Aiden Rush sat on the narrow bench and watched Dave. Dave hadn't moved his arms, they were still over the back of the chair, his hands bent and smashed. Then he leaned forwards and pulled his arms back over the chair so that they were by his side. There was no way that he would be able to type, his hands hurt to touch, but he thought that the thumb of his left hand wasn't broken. He lifted his hand in front of his face and examined it.

It looked hopeful, although he still didn't know if he could type with his thumb, without jarring the fingers of that hand. Carefully he tapped a key with his thumb. Yes it was possible, although it did hurt, it wasn't as bad as he thought.

Aiden watched him, and when he saw that he was able to type, he pulled Dave's right arm back over the chair and re tied his arm and hand. Dave cried out weakly as his arm was wrenched backwards again.

Aiden came round to the front again so that he could see Dave. Dave was having problems with his vision; his eyes didn't seem to want to focus. He thought that his eyelid had torn again, and there was blood in his eye. He tired to focus on Rush.

'I need a drink.' he said. 'I can't do this without a drink.'

'I am leaving you now and when I get back I expect you to have typed a page. Others were involved with my Father's case. I need to see them too.'

Dave suddenly felt sick. The other two names in the Rush case were Hotchner and Reid. Dave feared for them.

As a parting gift. Aiden Rush kicked Dave's foot, and Dave screamed in agony. Rush exited the room, leaving the light on.

Dave blinked in the harsh light. He hurt all over, and he dripped blood onto the keyboard as he tried to type. His eyes were losing focus again and he thought it was because of being hit in the face too many times. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again in an effort to focus on the keyboard.

His head hung forward and his eyes closed. He couldn't do this, the pain was so bad. If Rush killed him, then so be it.

He thought about Aaron and how he felt about him, the love that burned within him. He didn't want to die without saying good bye to him.

He forced his eyes open again, and pressed a key and began typing. The blood on the keyboard made it harder, but he realised that he couldn't give up. Aaron was too important.

-0-0-0-

The phone calls were coming in fast now. People had recognised the sketch. Most if not all of them would be bogus, but just in case each one had to be checked. Aaron needed to clear his head, and he told the others that he was going outside for some air.

The night was cold and dark. Hotch leaned against the wall outside the building, and closed his eyes. He felt a sudden rush of guilt as he thought about the feelings David had professed, and he had acted as if they didn't exist. He was flattered and humbled by Reid and Rossi both loving him, and they both deserved so much more than what he was offering them in return, but he wasn't able to love them in the way theyomo craved.

Now Dave was missing, his chance might be gone if they couldn't find him quickly.

He racked his brain for anything he could remember about Carson Rush, but really threre was little to remember. There had been no trial, so the chapter had been shorter than the others. He was guilty of the crimes, there was no doubt in his mind of that, but technically he was still innocent.

Hotch wandered down the steps of the offices into the empty street. Up ahead there was a man leaning against the wall, much as he had been doing. Hotch thought he looked ill – he was bent forwards, his arms around his body.

'Excuse me Sir, are you hurt?'

He hardly had a chance to see the pale moonlight flash on the blade before it was embedded in his side up to the hilt. He looked at the handle sticking out from between his ribs and slowly crumpled to the ground.

-0-0-0-

Reid put down his coffee and looked at his watch. He suddenly got the horrible feeling of Déjà Vu, so like when Dave had disappeared from outside the Book Store.

'Oh no! Not again!' he breathed.

He ran down the stairs, almost falling in his haste to get outside to Hotch.

The street was deserted again, and a light rain had just started to fall. He stepped out into the road and looked both ways. Aaron wasn't there.

Perhaps he had gone for a walk to clear his head. Reid began to walk as if to go round the block. He kept his hand on his revolver.

The pavement suddenly felt sticky under his feet. He took a flashlight from his messenger bag and shone it at the ground.

Blood!

_Oh god Aaron. What has happened?_

Reid got out his cell phone and called Morgan.

'I think Hotch has gone ........ There's blood on the pavement out here.' he said, his voice shaky.

Morgan. dropped the remote control he was holding and called Emily.

'He's got Hotch!'

Morgan ran down the stairs with Emily close behind him. They joined Reid out in the rain. He was stooping down on the pavement.

'There is a lot of blood here.' Reid said. Morgan couldn't tell if it was tears on Reid's face or rain.

'Oh god. Too much blood. Get the security videos quickly. It doesn't look as if we have much time.'


	4. Blood and Typing

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 4  
Blood and Typing

"_**Despair is a great **__**incentive**__** to honourable death**__**" - Quintus Curtius Rufus**_

Aaron vaguely felt hands around his ankles as he was dragged away from the pavement and into a vehicle. The knife was still embedded in his side, and he tried to hold it still as he was dragged, He pressed his trembling fingers around the hilt of the knife, pressing hard onto the blade, feeling blood force its way between his fingers.

His one thought was to keep the knife where it was. He knew that if it was removed he would have minutes of life left, if that.

He thought that he was in the trunk of a car, but even working that out was beyond him now. He lay still, panting breaths, light headed and faint, waiting to die.

-0-0-0-

Dave forced his eyes into focus and looked at the screen of the laptop. He had managed about a quarter of a page. His hand was sending bolts of pain along his arm into his chest, just moving it slightly was agony. He knew that when Rush came back he needed to have more done, but he couldn't force his hand to work for him, and he rested it in his lap and waited.

This was the longest he had been left alone, and he had awful feelings about what he was doing. He was so afraid that Aaron and Spencer would be in danger because of the book. Was Rush right? Should he have left that chapter out of the book altogether?

He blinked hard, and berated himself for second guessing his decision to include it. Rush was winning this battle if he could make him doubt himself.

He looked down and checked his feet. The blood on top of his feet was dry and hard. The blood had stopped flowing now that he was keeping his legs as still as possible. He wondered if his shins were broken.

None of this really mattered if Rush was going to kill him. He looked down at the hand resting in his lap. It was almost as if he was looking at someone else's hand; it seemed disembodied from himself. He tried to move his arm to direct his hand back to the key board, but he couldn't move it.

'Move, damn it!' he hissed, and tried again. This time, taking all his effort to ignore the pain, he lifted his hand to the keyboard and pressed his thumb down on another letter. His eyes were watering with the pain, and hampering his vision still more. He bit down on his lip and with a supreme effort typed another letter.

-0-0-0-

Rush was excited. He had two of the three now, and this last one had been unbelievably easy. He thought of the man bleeding to death in the trunk of his car, and he laughed out loud in his excitement.

'Hotchner, I've got you!' he said, still laughing. He just hoped that he wouldn't die. Corpses were so heavy, and he wanted it out of the trunk of his car asap. He was glad that he had put down plastic – at least most of the blood would be caught.

He drove carefully through the city. He wasn't planning on doing a Ted Bundy and getting stopped for a stupid traffic violation.

'I'll probably get stopped for driving too well!' he said out loud, and laughed again.

He drove out to the hut where David Rossi was nailed to the floor – that thought made him smile, but he didn't say anything this time. His mother – the old witch – had said that talking to ones self was a sign of madness, and he was blowed if he would fall into that trap. He could remember the day that she had told him about his father, that he had raped her and impregnated her, and she wanted to kill the spawn, but left it too late.

Now she was dead, and rotting away happily in a crate in their living room, he could make that connection with the father that he never knew.

He wrinkled his nose up at the memory of what his mother was doing now. He was glad she was dead, but man, did she stink! Her name wasn't Rush, it was Simmonds, but he took his father's name when he killed her.

All he wanted to do now was please the spirit of his father and carry on his work. First the retaliation for the libellous drivel in the book, then kill as his father did.

He pulled on the hand brake and climbed out of the car. He glanced at the trunk, but decided to leave Hotchner there for now. He would wait until day break when it was easier for him to see, and easier to prevent Hotchner from running off. Not that he would get far with a four inch blade in his guts.

'Four inches of cold steel!' he laughed, and banged his bloody hand down on the trunk as he passed it.

-0-0-0-

As the car braked suddenly, Aaron shifted in the pool of clotting blood in the trunk, and cried out as the blade moved in him. The blood flow had slowed, but the movement started up the bleeding again. He whimpered softly and pressed the skin around the hilt of the knife, thick warm blood making his fingers slippery and their movement sluggish. He felt the car move as the driver got out, and expected to be let out of his cramped prison. But the UnSub banged down on the trunk and left it closed.

Aaron felt cold. He was losing far too much blood and he was wet from the rain. He lay still in the trunk though, hoping that the lack of movement would help the wound to stop bleeding. Whatever the case though, he knew that if he didn't get help very soon, he would die.

-0-0-0-

'But I was only minutes behind him!' Reid said, terror in his voice. 'How in hell did he get hit so quickly?'

'This is bad.' Morgan said, noting the extent of the blood pool. 'The only positive thing I can say is if Hotch was dead, then what would have been the point of taking his body.'

'So he was alive when he was put into the car or whatever vehicle that the UnSub was using.'

'Probably.' Morgan said, wishing he could be more positive, but when dealing with a psychopath, anything is possible.

They arranged to have the scene taped off and lights erected so that they could thoroughly process the scene. The CSU arrived and began to take samples and photographs, but to the team it was obvious what had happened. The UnSub had taken Hotch by surprise, and shot or stabbed him, bundled him into a car, and driven off.

There were no shell casings, but that didn't mean much. If there had been any, the UnSub would have taken them with him.

'Reid, get as many security tapes as you can find. I shall go back and check the one's that we already have.' Morgan said. 'And we need to get a profile together.

Morgan felt that he was trying to catch the wind. There seemed to be no leads to follow, even after all the evidence they had, they had nothing.

He sat at his desk and put the first tape in the machine again.

-0-0-0-

Rush entered the hut and went to where Dave was trying to type. Dave looked up at Rush, and saw blood on his hands and the front of his shirt. His heart sank and he felt sick. What had he done?

Rush looked at the screen, and saw the few lines that Dave had managed.

'Is that it?' he fumed, and he hit Dave as hard as he could in the face. Dave's head rocked back and his neck cracked.

'I c-can't go faster.' Dave said through bleeding split lips.

'I have some incentive for you in the car.' he said. 'I will fetch it when it's light. Type now, you libellous bastard! I'm letting you live to do this. If you don't do it, I will kill you here and now.'

Dave pressed another key with his mangled hand. He tried to wipe the blood from the keyboard so that he could see the keys, but it made it worse. He wasn't good at typing, and not being able to see the keys made it harder. He used his thumb to wipe blood from his eyes and set to type, ignoring the pain.

Incentive, Rush had said. What the hell did that mean? Oh god what had he done? He remembered the blood on his hands. Had he killed someone? Who was it? He hit another key and he checked it on the screen.

'May I have some water ?' he asked. His throat was dry and sore and he felt ill from dehydration. His head was beginning to throb. Rush went to the bench and took a bottle of water from the shelf above it. He took it to Dave, and placed the bottle in his mouth and tipped it. Dave gagged on the water, and choked as it came too fast. The bottle was removed from his lips and Dave vomited onto the floor, losing all the water he had just taken, and emptying his stomach. He heaved and retched on nothing until he tasted fresh blood in his mouth. He coughed and choked until at last the fit was over. He had pulled at the nails in the frenzy and fresh blood welled up on top of his feet again, and he cried aloud as pain from everywhere seemed to take over his body. He leaned back on his chair and panted in pain.

'It's getting lighter now. I will fetch your incentive.' Rush said with a smile as if nothing had happened. He left the room, and went outside.

-0-0-0-

Aaron heard him coming back. He tried desperately to think of a plan, but all he could think of was to stay alive. The trunk was opened and the dawning light shone into his eyes, He closed them against the light and waited.

'You can either get out on your own, or I can drag you out. I would recommend the former.'

Aaron tried to move carefully so as not to disturb the knife, but he couldn't move at all. Suddenly he felt hands under his arms and he was dragged out of the trunk, pulling his body straight, and exquisite new agonies reverberated through him. He groaned as he was dropped to the floor outside the car.

'Now on your feet.' he was ordered, and to show he meant business, Rush kicked him under the chin. Aaron rolled onto his back, clutching at the knife handle with both hands, desperately holding it still. He slowly curled his body and rolled onto his side, from where he forced himself onto his knees. Using the car to help him, he hauled himself upright onto his feet, and stood swaying in the early morning light.

'Now move.' he said and pulled Aaron away from the car by his shoulder, Aaron was bent double, holding the knife, and trying to walk. He fell as they reached the door of the hut, onto his knees and then all the way onto his side. He passed out and his hands fell away from the knife handle. The sun's low rays caught the metal in its light. Dave looked up from where he was typing, and saw the incentive.

'Oh my god, Aaron.' he whispered huskily, as he saw the man he loved collapse in the doorway. 'What have you done to him?' He asked, looking at Rush who was standing over him like a hunter over his prey.

'Taught him a lesson, as I did for you.' he answered. 'This one is strong. The next one should be easier.'

'Next one?' Dave said, shocked.

Rush dragged Aaron into the room by one arm and rolled him over against the wall. The knife moved in his side, and more blood flowed.

'He didn't write any of this!' Dave said, distressed at what he was seeing. 'All he did was his job. This book has nothing to do with him.'

'He sent my father to his grave.' Rush snarled. 'Get on with your bloody work, or I will hit you again.' He picked up the ratchet handle from the ground and waved it at Dave. 'I'll use this on you again, except I don't want you dead until you have finished this work. I can use it on this agent you wrote about though.' And he raised it above his head, over Aaron's inert body.


	5. Break

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 5  
Break

"_**Where there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see." Dorothea Lange**_

Aaron's body rocked as the metal bar caught his hip. He didn't make a sound.

'I wrote the book, damn it. Leave him alone.' Dave shouted, pushing the table away. The lap top fell to the floor and switched off. Rush turned from Aaron, and began to hit Dave. He brought the bar down on his shoulder and Dave felt his collar bone snap. As he raised the bar to begin again, Aaron's voice broke the silence. It was hardly more than a whisper, but it stopped Rush dead in his tracks.

'Ah! So you are alive. I was wondering. Just know this. Now your friend has decided not to type for me, you are both superfluous to requirements.'

He swung the bar in a wide arc, catching Dave on the side of the head. The momentum continued, and the chair Dave was tied to tipped sideways. Dave screamed as one of the nails pulled through his foot and freed it. The nail was left sticking out of the floor with blood and gore wrapped around its shaft. Dave lay unconscious on the floor, still nailed down and tied to the chair. Aaron wasn't moving now either. The door slammed and left the two dying men alone.

-0-0-0-

'Go back twenty and more years in the life of Carson Rush.' Morgan was saying. 'If there is a son or daughter, that is where we will find them.'

'Rush didn't kill his first rape victims, so there could be children that even Rush didn't know about.' Prentiss said.

'There will almost certainly be unreported rapes.' Reid said. He was about to give the statistics when he caught a brief look from Morgan, and he closed his mouth.

'I'm on it.' Garcia said, although she didn't hold out too much hope. With so few rape victims actually reporting the crime, the chances were slim.

'Reid and I will canvass the area where Hotch went missing. Someone must have seen something.'

-0-0-0-

The smell was unbelievable, even outside the house. The cop who was given the job of opening the door took a deep breath of malodorous air before he used the ram.

The door flew open with a crack of wood, and the foul air hit him like a wall. He felt his gorge rise, and he quickly stepped back to allow the others to enter in front of him.

The air was thick with flies and their buzzing seemed to throb in the atmosphere in the house. One by one the rooms were cleared, and the source of the smell was identified. The living room had a tea chest in the centre, decomp juice staining the threadbare rug on which it was standing.

'Get the on call pathologist over here, and tape off the room. Start looking for anything that might help us here.'

One of the young cops, an unhealthy shade of grey, picked up a photograph in a frame from the dusty piano against one wall.

'The guy in this picture, isn't he the one the Feds are after?' he said.

The older cop looked at it, and cast his mind back to the morning paper of the day before.

'I do believe you're right, Samuels. Nice one. They'll want jurisdiction, and they are welcome to it.' He called his team together. 'Ok lads, leave the scene for the Feds. They've got an interest here.'

The group left the house, and the older cop called it in.

-0-0-0-

Morgan and Reid took one side of the road each. So far no one could remember seeing anything out of the ordinary, apart from a man standing alone right where the taped off area was.

'He looked sick.' the girl said. 'I went over to ask him if he was ok, and he told me to mind my own business, which I did. I didn't see anything else.

Reid thanked the girl. Asked if she would recognise him again, she said no, but managed a rough description of him – thin with wispy blond hair. Reid left her a card in case she remembered anything else. As soon as Reid had left, a man came round from the back and smiled at her.

He stood outside the building and looked across to where the man had been standing. It was quite possible that the man had been waiting for Aaron to show, and didn't want to be disturbed. It would have been in character for him to go and check on him, and walk straight into a trap.

Reid stood with his back to the bar entrance, waiting for Morgan. He didn't hear the man come up behind him, and he was unconscious on the floor before the blow registered into his memory.

Morgan waited for Reid for a few minutes, then decided that he must have gone back to the office, so he retraced his steps to meet him there.

-0-0-0-

Morgan's phone rang as he was going up the stairs. It was a cop from the adjoining precinct.

'I think we have found your mystery kidnapper.' he said. 'We have just found his picture in the house of a homicide victim, whom we believe is his mother.'

Morgan took the address. 'We'll be right there.' he said.

Where the hell was Reid? He stepped outside again, looking both ways up the street. He was no where to be seen. One by one he checked the premises where he was to have canvassed, but he had visited them all, and wasn't there now.

He stood outside the last bar, and that was when he saw the blood on the pavement, almost exactly opposite from where Hotch had been abducted.

_Oh my god, not Reid as well.........._

he remembered that both Hotch and Reid had been mentioned extensively in Rossi's book. Was that why they had been targeted too?

He called Emily and told her about the photograph that the cops had found. He sent her and JJ to follow it up. He would have much rather gone himself, but he had to find out what had happened to Reid.

He went back into the bar.

'Did Agent Reid come in here to ask you if you saw anything across the street earlier on tonight?'

The woman behind the bar smiled nervously. 'Yes he was in here.' she said. 'He left me his card.' She produced Reid's contact card and showed it to Morgan.

'Tell me exactly what happened when he left.' he said.

'Nothing happened.' she said. 'He just went out of the door, like you'd expect'

'There's blood on the pavement outside, and he's missing. How do you explain that?'

'I don't!' she snapped. I'm working here. I didn't watch him. There was a fight here earlier. Perhaps the blood is from then.'

She pointedly turned her back. Conversation over.

Morgan called the CSU again.

'It could soon be discovered whose blood was that out on the pavement.' he said as a parting shot. 'And if it turns out that it is Reid's blood, you can be sure we will be back.'

-0-0-0-

Spencer had a headache. Oh he'd had headaches before, but never one like this. he went to move his hand to his head slowly to check that it wasn't actually split in half. That was when he realised that he was in restraints, and confined in a small area. He tried to think where this could be, but thinking hurt too much. He realised also that something had been stuffed into his mouth, and taped in place.

It felt like a closet. He was on his knees, and leaning back against the wall, the slatted door in front of him. he tried to move his head so that he could see between the slats, but it felt as if his brain was suspended in his head on elastic, and moving his head wasn't an option.

Suddenly the door opened, and he was yanked out by rough hand grabbing his collar. His eyes widened in recognition. This was the guy who caused all the trouble at the book signing.

He was dragged along a corridor and out of a door at the end. Outside in the back alley there was a car waiting with the trunk open. As he was pushed into the trunk he noticed that there was blood already in the bottom of it. Was this how Hotch was transported?

He didn't have much time to digest this information when he was pushed in head first, and his legs folded in, and the trunk lid slammed shut.

-0-0-0-

'That's definitely our guy.' JJ said looking at the picture.

The crate had gone now, to the lab where the unfortunate woman's body was being slid from the tea chest to be examined. So far all they could be sure of was that she was dead and someone had placed her body in the chest. But the most likely scenario was that the son, Aiden Symmonds had killed her, and was coming back to dispose of the body properly at a later time. He wouldn't have been discovered had he not left the heating on and decomp was accelerated.

But although the crate had gone, the rug was still there, soaked in decomp, and the place sill reeked. It was difficult to breathe the air. Emily for one would be glad to get out of there.

'He'll be coming back I should think.' Emily said. 'All his things are here, even his tooth brush and razor.'

She was talking to the cop who had found the body.

'He is a murder suspect. We will keep the house under observation, and when he comes back, we've got him.'

'We need to question him over the abduction of two of our agents.' she said. 'When you have him, please let us know so that we can get some answers.'

'You don't want jurisdiction in this case?' he asked, surprised.

'This is your crime scene.' Emily said. 'Unless you want the Feds to take over?.......'

'Uh no .... that's fine by me.' the cop said, surprised. Maybe the Feds weren't as bad as he thought after all.

We would like to have a look over the house before we go, in case there is any indication of where he has taken our people.

He gave Emily and JJ his sweetest smile. 'Of course – be my guest!'

It was while JJ was looking through the wardrobe of Mrs Symmonds, that she found the scrap book.

She opened the book on the bed. It was crammed with press cuttings of Carson Rush's rapes and murders, the arrest and subsequent suicide.

'I think we have our connection.' she said.

-0-0-0-

Dave was recovering consciousness. He was lying on his side still tied to the chair. One foot was free but the nail was pulled through it and he couldn't move it. The other was still nailed down. He thought his ankle was broken because of the angle it was at as well as the awful pain in his legs.

He could see Aaron without moving his head, which was good. He called to him.

'Aaron .... Aaron. If you can hear me, please show me.'

He watched his friend for any sign of life, then Aaron opened his eyes. The dark once bright eyes looked dull and lifeless. It frightened Dave. He asked him if he could move, and Aaron closed his eyes again. Dave could see that the blood pool around Hotch was too big. He was losing blood still, and needed to get to a hospital now if he was going to live.

'I can't get to you, Aaron, can you move to me?'

This time there was no response. He was out of energy. He was dying in front of Dave and he couldn't even hold him.

Dave closed his eyes. he wanted to cry, not out of fear or sadness at his own injuries, but so=imply that he couldn't comfort his friend as he died.

When the door opened again, he barely heard it.


	6. Taken

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 6  
Taken

"_**One night a **__**father**__** overheard his **__**son**__** pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the **__**Father**__** prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my **__**son**__** wants me to be.**__**" -ANON**_

Rush carried Reid in over his shoulder, and dropped him on the floor next to Aaron. His legs were strapped together and his arms were held next to his body. He was wide awake but he couldn't move. He felt the soft splash as he landed in blood, but he was facing the wrong way and he didn't know it was Aaron he was lying next to.

But he could see Dave, and Reid felt sickened by what he could see. Dave's eyes were closed, and his face was a mess of blood. He had been beaten, but without being able to move, he couldn't help him.

He heard the door close, and Reid tried to see if the man who he supposed was Carson Rush's son had actually left, but he was so tightly bound he couldn't see. Suddenly he felt hands grasp the back of his clothes and he was lifted up onto his feet.

'Your friends are dead!' the voice from behind him said. 'And now you are going to join them.'

He swung Reid and slammed him against the wall, knocking the wind out of him. He crumpled onto the floor again, panting for breath. He looked up at his captor.

'Why did you kill them?' he asked, tears running down his face. 'How will that help your father?'

'You know nothing about my father. All you did was send him to his grave. He was innocent.' Rush punctuated this last word with a punch to Reid's face. Reid fell backwards, and Rush started to kick him.

'No ..... not him.....'

Aaron's words were hardly more than a whisper, but it stopped Rush in his tracks. He turned away from Reid in surprise, and stepped across to Aaron, who was finding the strength to move.

A thousand emotions were flooding Aaron's dying body. This was a man who had said that he loved him. Both of these men had professed to love him, a love that he could never return in life. Maybe he would be able to return it in his death.

'Don't hurt them any more...... I am the Unit Chief. I am responsible for them. Punish me.' Aaron could feel the bones of his jaw grind together as he spoke. He was going to die. Let his death mean something, if only to save the lives of the two men who loved him.

He offered no resistance as he was pulled up onto his feet and held around the neck against the wall. With the other hand, Rush formed a fist and punched him over and over again in the face. The wet sound of the beating finally got through to Reid in his semi conscious state. He begged for Aaron's life but Rush acted as if he didn't hear him. he dropped Aaron's unconscious body to the floor and with a parting shot at Dave as he walked past him, he left the room and closed the door behind him.

-0-0-0-

Rush was missing his Mum. He hadn't meant to kill her – well actually he had meant to at the time, but it was in a rage, and so that didn't count. He wanted to get her out of the chest he had stuffed her in and put her in a bed where she could be comfortable, and then he would tell her that he was sorry that he had killed her, but she shouldn't have gone on at him so much. That last time, her telling him that his wonderful father was a rapist and a killer, had just been too much for him to take.

What did she know? He had kept all the cuttings and read loads about him. He knew his father. She didn't.

He paced the ground outside the hut, lifting himself into a frenzy of rage. Beating the men didn't seem to help.

He was his father's son.

He opened the door again. The three were still where he left them. He wanted the young skinny one. He got a knife and dragged him to the middle of the room where the other two could watch, and he cut the restraints that were around his hips. Then he cut away at his clothing. The young man – Reid his name was – squirmed a little, but was too bound up to offer much resistance.

Rush was getting excited and felt as his father had when raping women. This was different though. Aiden Rush had never had anyone, and had only pleasured himself while looking at pictures. But this was real living flesh and it was his to do as he wanted with.

He pushed Reid down onto the floor, and bit the back of his neck, drawing blood into his mouth. He licked his lips excitedly, and took Reid, despite the muffled screams and cries of protest behind the gag.

He could hear one of the other men protesting too, although he didn't know which one, the moans of the man under him were all that he was interested in.

When he was finished, he laughed. He never thought of it as funny before, but for some reason, he couldn't stop. He climbed off Reid and pulled his trousers up again, fastening his belt. That was good. He glanced at the other two. He would take them too when he was ready. In a few hours maybe, when he had dealt with Mum. he kicked Reid in the side of the head and left.

-0-0-0-

Morgan and Emily had both joined the cops in staking out the Symmonds' place. There was nothing in the house to give a clue as to where Aiden Symmonds had taken the three missing agents. They had to hope that he was going to come back to the house at some point. The crime scene tape was down, and everything put back as it was except of course for the chest containing Mrs Symmonds.

The lab reported that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head, and had been dead about two weeks, although it was difficult to be accurate because of the high temperature in the room where they found her.

Morgan just hoped that his assumption that Symmonds would be back was well founded. In the morning, Morgan and Emily were going back to the bar where Red had disappeared. The blood work would be back by then and they would be able to search the place. Until then, all they could do was sit here and take it in turns to sleep.

Emily was sleeping at the moment. She looked so peaceful curled up on the passengers' seat. It was hard to believe the things that this woman had seen and still manage to look peaceful as she dreamed about god only knew what.

A movement up ahead, and the agent was instantly alert.

'Prentiss, wake up.'

Emily sat up in the seat. 'Is he back?'

'I believe so, he's going to the front door of the house'

He spoke into a small intercom attached to the dash.

'Ok, go go go, but remember we need him alive.'

Morgan watched as they closed in on Symmonds as he unlocked the door of his house.

In slow motion, and yet not able to do a thing to stop it from happening, Symmonds drew a gun, and shot at the cop in the front. It looked like Hotch's gun, but Morgan couldn't be certain. Morgan thought that he could see the bullet fly through the air and strike the cop. The volley of shots that followed almost cut the UnSub in half. Symmonds fell flat on his face and dropped the weapon.

'No!' shouted Morgan and ran past the cops to Symmonds' side.

'Where are my men?' he said to the fallen man. 'You are going to die, so tell me first, where are they?'

Symmonds grabbed at Morgan's shirt, pulling him in close. Morgan bent forwards to hear him.

'I'll see..... you in ..... hell.' and he died there outside his home.

-0-0-0-

Reid was lying on his side, fighting for breath, and trying to ignore the pain. His head was still hurting more so since he had been kicked but this new agony inside him had left the headache standing. He rolled onto his other side and reached out with his mind to Aaron, who was lying still where Rush had dropped him. Reid's arms were lashed to his side, but now with some of the bonds cut, he thought he would be able to release his hands.

He pulled and twisted for a few minutes, and at last a hand came free. He pulled the gag out of his mouth with some relief, and rubbed at his eyes. He couldn't see, and he hoped it was because it was dark.

He pulled himself to Aaron's side. Gently, he felt the man's face and neck, feeling for a pulse

Aaron wasn't moving. He was sticky with spattered blood all over but his side from his waist down to his hips was saturated, and he was still clinging to the knife handle that stuck out of him.

'Hotch, dear Hotch, please still be alive...... please.'

Aaron opened his eyes a slit and looked at Reid.

'I am ..... so sorry ..... I didn't help you.' he said, tears forcing their way between his long dark lashes.

'Just stay alive, Aaron. I am going to get help for us.'

'Dave?.....'

'I don't know yet. I need to check on him. Just stay with us, Aaron.'

But Hotch had slipped into the dark place and couldn't hear any more.

Reid felt his way over to David. He was in a bad way. He had been badly beaten, and Reid at first thought he was dead, but he found a pulse, weak and thready at that, but he was deeply unconscious, and not responding to him at all.

Reid sat against the wall despite the agony that shot through him in that position, and worked on undoing his bonds. Releasing the other hand was easy, and he felt for the plastic bonds around his legs. It wasn't so easy to free his legs, but he twisted them and pulled and one by one they came undone. He felt as if he had been doing it for hours and he was terrified that his captor would be back to finish the job he had started.

When at last the last bond was broken, he stood up on shaky legs and felt around the walls for a door. His feet came up against Aaron and he carefully stepped over him and continued to search.

At last he found a door. He pushed it open and staggered out into inky blackness.

Hands outstretched, he walked shakily forwards. He had no idea why he couldn't see. He prayed that it was temporary loss of sight brought on by being beaten around the head.

He came up against a tree, and he turned sideways hoping that there was a track that he could follow. He didn't have long if he was going to save his friends lives......

..... if it wasn't too late already.

-0-0-0-

Dave was drifting in and out of reality. He knew that Aaron was close by and he tried to open his eyes to see him. The light was still on in the hut, but it was flickering. Dave guessed that the batteries running the lights were all but spent now.

He had vague memories of Reid being there, but if he had been it seemed that he wasn't there now. He turned his head towards a cold draft, and he saw that the door was open. Aaron was lying close to the door, and would be getting cold.

'Aaron ..... can you hear..... me?'

Aaron didn't move apart from his eyes. He tried to open them but the weight was too much. He knew that he was dying, but he could only think of Reid, struggling against Rush.

Aaron hoped that Reid would escape with his life even if they were going to die in their own blood. At least Reid had a chance.


	7. Lost and Found

**Retaliation  
**Chapter 7  
Lost and Found

"_**There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." – Friedrich Nietzsche**_

Spencer was as scared as he had ever been. He was totally blind, and was in the deepest darkness possible. But the lives of two people depended on him. How was he going to do this?

One step at a time. He held onto the trees as he made his way forward, not sure if he was going along the side of the road or not, unwilling to leave the safety of the trees to find out in case he became disoriented and couldn't find his way back. Thorns reached out and tore at his feet, and his hands were cut and grazed by the trees. His head was throbbing in time with his heart beat which he could feel in his chest. The blackness was almost palpable, pressing in on him from every side. The terror he felt in the dark wasn't diminished by the weight of responsibility.

But he was tiring, and his legs were shaking as he took step after step. He clung to a tree to try to regain some stamina, but he was exhausted by fear and knowing that Aaron and Dave were depending on him was the only thing keeping him upright.

He recalled touching Aaron's face and touching the blood there. He remembered the sticky pool of congealing blood around him.

He had to keep going for their sakes.

That was his last thought as the darkness solidified and his legs gave way.

-0-0-0-

Morgan looked down at the dead UnSub at his feet. He couldn't quite believe that their last hope of finding Hotch, Reid and Rossi alive was now lost. They had no more leads, no where else to look for them.

'Sonofabitch!' he said to himself, and he turned to Emily who was standing behind him.

'Now what?' she asked.

'Search this house from top to bottom. There has to be evidence somewhere that will lead us to our missing men.' he said. Otherwise, they are as good as dead......

He felt sick. He wanted to berate the cop who had shot him, but he was doing what he was trained to do, and it was a good shoot, there was no doubt about that.

But it was their only lead.

Emily had gone into the house. Morgan followed her at a run. Time was running out, and they had to start from scratch.

-0-0-0-

Reid could feel the dampness of the wet grass through his torn clothes. The rape had left him bleeding and in pain, and he was exhausted. For a moment he couldn't remember what he was supposed to be doing. Why was he lying here in the open in pain? What was going on?

he closed his eyes tight and saw an image of Aaron, lying in a pool of blood. He was supposed to be getting help for the man he loved, and yet he was too exhausted to make his body work.

'Somebody help me!' he said, but he doubted that anyone would hear him. His throat was dry and his voice hoarse. 'Help...........'

He wanted to keep going, to get help, but his energy was gone. He crawled a few yards, and his body collapsed onto the wet grass, and he passed out.

-0-0-0-

There were not many cars along there at this time in the morning, but the woman driving her daughter to her day care saw the body by the road from her SUV. She drove straight past it at first. Her husband had always said never to stop for any one or any thing, especially with Milly in the car. But she couldn't leave it. She reversed back down the road and stopped the car on the opposite verge.

As she got out of the car she thought that she saw the man move, and as she approached, she was certain that he was alive. It looked to her that he had been hit by a car and left to die, and her heart melted when she saw him.

He had blood over his face from a head wound that looked bad. She saw that his clothes were torn and he had blood on his legs. She thought for a horrible moment that he had been raped and dumped, then she saw that he didn't have ant shoes on, and his feet were cut and bruised as if he had been running through the woods.

'Let me help you.' she said gently, and lifted him under the arms and helped him across the road to her car. She opened the back and laid him across the back seat. 'I will take you to the hospital.' she said.

'No, but help Aaron and Dave.' he said softly, but she didn't hear him. She checked Milly's seat belt and drove off slowly, worried that he would fall off the seat if she went too fast. She pulled into the hospital grounds and drove right up to the door of the Emergency Room. She jumped out of the car and ran through the doors.

'Please!' she cried out, 'I need some help!'

-0-0-0-

As the dawn light shone through the open door of the hut, the generator finally ran out of gas and the light turned off. Aaron was cold. He had lost a lot of blood but the bleeding was slowing down now. He was on the edge of consciousness, and all he felt was anger and self loathing.

How had he let Rush rape Spencer? Spencer had kept it together and gone for help, but when the truth hit home, and he remembered what had been done to him, how would he ever live with the face that he had been raped in front of him?

Aaron tried to move, but the knife moved in his side. He needed to get next to Dave. he opened his eyes and looked across at him. Focusing was difficult, but he could see that Dave was in a bad way. It looked as if both legs were broken. He had been beaten and blood was splashed everywhere.

'Dave.' he whispered. 'Please, Dave, if you can hear me, let me know.'

Dave shifted slightly against the chair. He wanted to acknowledge Aaron, but he was in too much pain to move. His impaled foot was numb now, but he could feel the broken bones of his ankle grind as he tried to move.

'Aaron.' he managed to whisper. 'Stay..... with me.....'

'Dave, Reid's gone for help.'

Dave didn't speak, but Aaron could hear his guttural breathing as he struggled with each breath. he wondered when Rush was going to return. His threat of further violation echoed hollowly around Aaron's head. He had to get Dave and himself out of there before Rush returned.

Very carefully, and slowly, Aaron pulled himself into a sitting position. He felt dizzy and sick as he tried to stand. He got onto his knees and the room spun around him. He vomited onto the floor.

'Dave ....' he coughed and gagged as he tried to speak. 'Dave, we have to leave.'

He crawled to Dave and touched his face. 'We have to leave. Now.'

He untied Dave's arm from the back of the chair, and put his arm around him. Dave flinched at the touch.

'Dave, it's me, Hotch. I'm going to get you out of here.'

'Can't go, Aaron.' he said in a sigh. Slowly, he moved his arm across the chair back and reached out to Aaron. Aaron took his hand in his, gently holding his wrist, his other arm around his friend. 'You go, Aaron. I can't.....'

'I will not leave you alone......'

_to die alone......._

Aaron closed his eyes and rested his head against Dave's arm. Dave bent his arm around Aaron's shoulders.

'I'll stay with you.' Aaron said.

-0-0-0-

'You have to get the others!' Reid ranted trying to sit up on the gurney.

'We will help you first, then you can tell us about the others.'

'No but you have to go now. They're dying. I can't see. You have to help Hotch and Dave. Something has happened to my eyes, I can't see. Please help the others......'

They placed an oxygen mask on his face to help him to breathe, but he wouldn't settle. They managed to hold him down while they dressed his head wound, and cleaned the blood from his legs and face, but he struggled against them. They sedated him, and made him comfortable.

'Do you want us to call the police for you.' a nurse said as she smoothed his sheets.

'I am with the FBI. He stole my ID.' he said. 'Please call the BAU.'

'Do you have a number?' she asked.

Reid gave her Morgan's cell number. At last he could relax a little, knowing Morgan would soon be here.

-0-0-0-

Morgan almost dropped his phone in his eagerness to answer it.

'Hello is that Agent Derek Morgan?'

'Yes it is.'

'This is the City Mercy Hospital. We have one of your men here. Spencer Reid.'

'I'm on my way!' Morgan said. He alerted Emily with the news.

'We can come back to the search, Prentiss. Reid has been found.'

The two agents got into the SUV parked outside, and Morgan drove like the devil himself to get to the hospital quickly.

They found Reid lying in the bed with his eyes closed. He had a shaved area above his eye where the wound had been glued together. He was white against the sheet, and looked like a little boy lying there. Emily reached out and took his hand.

'Spencer,' she said. 'Morgan and I are here now.'

Reid's eyes snapped open but he looked into a space behind Emily. 'Hotch and Dave are in a hut in the woods. You have to find them. I think Hotch is........ You have to be quick, before Symmonds gets back there.'

'Spencer, Symmonds is dead – suicide by cop. We have to find the hut.' Emily said. 'Do you know where you were found?'

'I don't know.....I walked for miles. I don't know.' Tears were forming in his eyes.

'Don't worry, Reid. We'll find them.'

Emily and Morgan left the room where he was lying.

'How are we going to find them?' Emily said.

'I might be able to help you.' a voice from behind them said. They turned to see a young woman sitting outside Reid's room with a child on her lap. 'I can show you where I found him. Would that help?'

'It would, very much.' Emily said. 'I and Agent Emily Prentiss, this is Agent Morgan. We have two colleagues still missing. If you can show us where you found Reid, it will help us find the other two.'

'Emily will go with you in your car, and I will follow in ours.' Morgan said. the woman smiled at him, and nodded. 'Is he going to be all right?'

'We think so.' Emily said. Which is your car?'

Emily sat in the front next to the woman, and Milly was strapped into the back. Emily tried not to notice the blood on the back seat as she tightened the seat belt around the little girl.

'How far out was it?' Emily asked as the car took the exit route from the city.

'It was just outside the city limits.' she said. He was lying on the grass verge.' She paused then she said, 'I'm ashamed to say that I almost didn't stop.'

'Well don't beat yourself up over that. You did stop, when most people wouldn't. You probably saved his life, and the lives of two other agents. We can only thank you.'

Just outside the city, she pulled onto the verge.

'This is where I stopped.' she said. 'Your friend was lying over there.' She pointed across the road. Emily got out as Morgan pulled up behind her. She could still see the crushed grass where he had been lying, stained with his blood.

'may we have your address in case we have any questions?' Emily said to the woman, and she wrote it down as Morgan stepped up behind her.

'Thank you very much for your help. You may go now.'

As she drove away, Emily and Morgan looked into the woods at the side of the road.

'Now the difficult bit.' he said.


	8. Search

Retaliation  
Chapter 8  
Search

"_**Death**__**, the refuge, the solace, the best and kindliest and most prized **__**friend**__** and benefactor of the erring, the forsaken, the old and weary and broken of heart**__**" – Mark Twain**_

Some of Reid's movements were east to follow where he had fallen and broken down the vegetation. He had left blood on the leaves in the ground, where his feet had been bleeding, and gravitational drops where blood had run down his legs. The first mile or two through the woods was easy to follow. But then the heavens opened and the rain washed the blood into the ground, and there was no longer an easy trail to follow.

Emily looked up into the grey sky and cursed. The rain was making it difficult to see anyway. She shone her flashlight forwards into the murky undergrowth.

'Which way now?' she asked. Morgan looked around him in dismay.

'We will have to assume that Reid kept on in the same direction.' he said. 'Call Garcia and see if there are any records of a rangers' hut in this area. You never know, we might come up lucky.'

-0-0-0-

Reid had been asleep. His wounds were treated and he was safe now. He slowly woke up in the soft bed, and immediately panicked.

'Aaron! ..... David!' he cried out in his semi asleep state. He hurt inside, and he still couldn't see, but he remembered what had happened to him. He remembered the humiliation of being raped in front of Aaron, and the shame and self loathing gripped him like a vice. How could Aaron ever love him after that? And dave? Had he seen what happened? Were they even alive?

People would judge him for what had happened. Indeed, he was judging himself. he hated what he had become, but couldn't see a way out of it.

His bed was by the wall in the corner of a four bed ward. He turned onto his side and pressed himself to the edge of the bed against the wall. Although the other three beds were empty, he felt vulnerable and exposed lying there without any protection. He was weak and helpless, and fearful of what the future was going to bring.

He pulled the crisp white sheets tightly around him as if that would offer him some protection against Symmonds. He felt tears spring from his eyes and he scrunched up the pillow and wept into it.

-0-0-0-

Garcia had come back without any good news. Yes there were several rangers' huts in the vicinity, but the rangers had put them where they wanted them, and no proper record had been kept.

'I tried satellite images.' she said, 'but the forest is too overgrown to find them, my Dark Horse.'

'That's ok, Baby Girl, we'll find them.'

He closed his phone in frustration. Surely there had to be a record somewhere? But if Garcia said no, then there was no way t find them without a ground search. He told Emily the news, and they carried on trying to retrace Reid's footsteps through the forest. It wasn't going well. The rain was coming down hard, and it was difficult to tell the vegetation broken down by Reid from the vegetation beaten down by the rain. They could miss the hut by a few feet and not even see it. They might already have done.

-0-0-0-

In the hut, Aaron and Dave were in an embrace. Each knew that the other was alive, but neither of them was able to speak. Aaron couldn't get the image of Reid being raped out of his mind, and the fact that he had just let it happen. He had lain there and watched the man who professed his love het brutally abused in front of him, and then watched as he ran from the hut to get help for them

How had he let this happen? He was the Unit Chief. If anyone was going to risk his life in the forest, it ought to have been him, Aaron Hotchner. He hated himself for what he had allowed to happen. He was to blame if Reid didn't make it, and if he did make it, how would Reid feel knowing that he, Hotchner, had stood by and let him be raped. How could he ever face him?

He thought of pulling the blade out of his side, and putting an end to this misery once and for all, but he needed to stay, for Dave's sake. There would be time for recriminations and self hatred if they were rescued. But if he died here, then that was justice.

Dave had his arms around his friend. His twisted and broken fingers stiff with blood. He had no feeling in his feet now, and the numbness was gradually encroaching into his smashed legs. He wondered in passing if he would ever be able to walk again, assuming that they didn't die.

This whole thing was his fault. If he hadn't written that stupid book, they wouldn't be in this position. He concentrated on Aaron for a moment, checking that he could still feel him breathe. It took a while for a breath to register with him, but at least he was alive.

Dave didn't know how he was still alive. The wound in his side was deep, and he should have bled out long ago.

Aaron was tough, even though he had gentle qualities like compassion and empathy. That was one of the reasons Dave loved him. He remembered telling Aaron that he loved him, but he knew even then that the love would always be unrequited. He knew that Aaron had told Reid that he couldn't have romantic feelings for him, and if Aaron couldn't love a young good looking man like Reid, what chance did an old ugly man like him stand?

He was unworthy of any love Aaron could offer anyway. He had got them killed like this by his ego and that book.

He wondered for a moment what Rush would do when he returned. Pull them apart, or just leave them to die. The thought of being pulled apart from Aaron made him tighten his hold on him involuntarily. Aaron groaned weakly as Dave moved him, and he immediately loosened his hold on him.

_I'm sorry, Aaron. I don't want to let you go......_

Dave shivered. The rain beating down on the roof and the wind blowing through the open door froze him. He tried to move so that he was between the door and Aaron, but the impaled foot wouldn't allow that much movement. The slight pull brought back the pain, and it shot up his leg into his groin. He let out a small cry as the pain washed over him like the rain washing over the forest outside. He touched Aaron's face with the palm of his hand, and Aaron was very cold, but sweating too. He had an infection. If help didn't come soon, that would take him.

-0-0-0-

'Reid couldn't have walked this far.' Emily said.

'I was just about to say the same thing.' Morgan said, kicking a small tree flat in his frustration. 'We could be thrashing about in these woods for weeks and never find them.'

'We can't give up.' Emily said. 'We should get back to the start and try again. Maybe get one of us up in a chopper, get the locals in on a ground search.'

Morgan sighed and turned around. 'Maybe if we split up, we will have a better chance of finding them on the way back.'

'Let's go then.' Emily said, branching out to the right as she retraced her steps back again. She had no idea what they were going to find. Two bodies? After what had happened to Reid, she thought it likely. But there again, they could be alive, in which case, every minute wasted by them was another minute of pain for her colleagues. She quickened her pace as she crashed through the undergrowth.

Visibility was better in this direction. The rain was hitting her back now instead of full in the face, and she thought it was easing off now. She flashed her torch ahead of her, and that was when she saw it.

She could have just as easily missed it, but it was definitely a torn piece of Reid's clothes. She must be going the right way. She turned back into the rain and shone the flashlight forwards. There was the hut. She had walked past within ten feet and missed it.

She decided to check that it was the right one before calling Morgan. She scrambled towards it, noting that the door was open, and the rain was going through the open door.

She splashed through the mud and shone the torch through the open door, and her stomach twisted at what she saw.

Aaron and Dave were lying in the middle of the floor with their arms around each other. She could see the nail sticking through Dave's foot, and realised to her horror that he had been nailed to the floor. From what she could see, his fingers were broken, and he had been beaten too. She couldn't see what had happened to Aaron, but the blood by the wall, and the trail of smeared blood across the floor spoke volumes to her.

As she crossed the floor to the two fallen agents, she called Morgan.

'I've found them, Morgan, god help them.'

She checked their vital signs, and was relieved to find that they were both still alive, although how Aaron could be alive after losing so much blood was beyond her. Soothingly she touched both men with her cool hands.

'It's Emily here. Stay with me now, help is on its way.'

She didn't try to unlock their arms from each other. They were so obviously comforted by the nearness of each other, it almost made her cry to think of the agonies they had been through, and they were protecting each other right to the end.

She thought of the blood smear, and how Hotch must have crawled across the floor to be with Rossi. It broke her heart to think they might have died like that. She knelt by their sides and stroked their faces, gently encouraging them, talking to them.

-0-0-0-

Emily Prentiss....... How did she get here? Help was coming? Dave was almost afraid to believe that it wasn't an hallucination. He tried to form her name on his broken lips but he wasn't able to. He just needed to prove to himself that she was real.

Then she started to touch him. He felt her gentle hands on his face and neck, and he realised that they had a chance.......

_Do you feel that, Aaron my love? There is a chance......._

He felt Aaron's grip on him loosen as he realised too that there was a chance that they were going to survive this. He wanted to warn Emily about Rush, who could return at any moment, and kill the three of them.

He tried to articulate the words but all Emily heard was a sigh.

'Don't be frightened.' she said softly. 'You are safe now. Help is coming.'

It was at that moment that Morgan arrived at the hut.

'I've sent the co ordinates to the Air Rescue. They should be here soon.'

As if to reaffirm Morgan's words, the sound of the helicopter could just be heard over the rain on the roof.

'Do you hear that? They are coming. Just hold on a little longer.' she said.

-0-0-0-

The helicopter came down a short distance away in a clearing. The medics were off the helicopter as soon as it touched the forest floor, and they hurried to the co ordinates they had been given. They ran into the little shed, and Emily and Morgan moved away. Gently they separated the two men. dave didn't have the strength to resist. That was when Emily saw the knife handle sticking out of Aaron's side. her hand went to her mouth as they laid him down on the floor of the hut.

He felt for a pulse.

'There is no pulse. This man is dead.........'


	9. Start of Recovery

Retaliation  
Chapter 9  
Start of Recovery

"_**Rape**__** is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused.**__**" – Freda Adler**_

'There is no pulse. This man is dead. Start CPR. It might not be too late!'

Emily and Morgan stood back as one of the medics tore Aaron's shirt back and began chest compressions.

'Get an IV in quickly, so that the heart's got something to pump!' he yelled as he leaned onto Aaron's chest.

Another medic fought to insert an IV. Aaron was cold and his blood volume was seriously low, and the canallula was difficult to insert, but eventually he managed to, eventually inserting it in his inner elbow. Emily couldn't watch as they struggled to bring Hotch back. Morgan turned to Dave.

One medic was holding a mask to Dave's face, and another injected something into his leg.

'Painkiller.' he said, noticing that Morgan was watching. 'We have to get this foot off the floor.'

Morgan knelt down next to him and put an arm around him, taking his weight off his foot.

'You're safe now, Rossi. You're going to be ok.'

Dave groaned as his foot was slid along the nail to the top. A bolt cutter was applied under his foot and cut through the nail. The sideways movement jolted him and he cried aloud as his foot was released, and his broken ankle moved. Morgan held onto him as he passed out in agony.

Emily watched the medics work on Hotch. He looked white and ill, as the medic pressed down on his chest. There was no response other than the wound in his side began to weep blood again.

_Come on, Hotch. Please, you can make it......_

His body moved with each compression, fragile and delicate under the medic's strong hand. Emily saw bruising start to appear on his chest........

_Come on, live! Live!_

'We have a pulse!' shouted the medic.

No one said a word as the medic left off the compressions and rocked back on his heels, massaging his stiff arms.

'Thank you.' Emily whispered.

Gently, they lifted Aaron onto a stretcher, and carried him out of the hut to where Dave had already been taken. Emily went after them. There was room for one of them to travel with them, the other to follow behind in the car. Emily went.

She sat at the end of the small space in the chopper, trying to keep out of the way as they continued to work on Dave and Aaron. The double sound of the heart monitors as they measured off the seconds of their lives.

Aaron suddenly fibrillated and the alarms went haywire. They applied the paddles, as Emily watched as if through a fog of fear and uncertainty. It all moved in slow motion as someone yelled 'clear!' and he jerked off the table. Twice....... three times, she watched his fragile body jerk. It looked to her that he was in so much pain, his face contorted in unseen agonies. Suddenly his heart monitor beeped again, and the paddles were silently put to one side.

She didn't sigh with relief, each breath was with relief that her two friends were still alive. She watched Dave, beaten and broken as the medics adjusted the oxygen mask over his face. She wanted to hold them both to her, tell them that everything was going to be all right, that they were safe and were going to live. But she didn't know; she wasn't sure. She never would be again.

The helicopter tilted as it came in to land. Aaron and Dave rocked to the side, and Dave's eyes fluttered open.

'Rossi!' she whispered. 'Everything is going to be all right. You are safe now.' She managed a tearful smile as their eyes locked.

'Aaron?' he said softly.

'He's still with us, Rossi.' she said.

The doors were opened even as the craft landed, and strong hands took over, pulling their stretchers out of the helicopter. Emily waited until they were both out, and she got out herself.

'If you would like to wait in the waiting area, we will bring you news as soon as we have any.'

Emily didn't know who said it, but she went through a side door marked 'waiting area' and took a seat and waited. She was biting down on her nails when Morgan arrived.

'Anything?' he asked as he sat down opposite her. He wasn't sure why he chose to sit there rather than next to her. He might be tempted to take her in his arms for comfort, but she was too separated.

'Nothing.' she answered, her finger still in her mouth. 'But hopefully that's a good thing.'

At that moment a doctor came into the room.

'Are you here for the two FBI agents?' he asked.

Emily and Derek both stood up, desperate for news, yet afraid to hear it.

-0-0-0-

A nurse was sitting with Spencer. She had good news for him, but didn't want to waken him to give it. But when he began to thrash in his bed as if gripped by a nightmare, fighting his inner demons, the nurse gently put her cool hand on his forehead to try to waken him slowly.

His eyes snapped open, and for a moment she thought that he was still dreaming. Then he blinked slowly as he woke up and untangled the thread of reality, clinging to it.

'Hello Spencer, 'I have some good news for you.' she said.

'Dave? Aaron?' staring straight up with unseeing eyes.

'Your two friends have been found alive and air lifted here. As soon as I have news, I will let you know.' She gave Reid a squeeze of the hand and stood up to leave.

'Wait!' Reid said, grabbing at her hand. 'Please don't leave. I am afraid to sleep on my own.'

She looked at her watch. 'Well I'm due for a break now, so I can stay with you for fifteen minutes.' She was surprised at the ferocity with which he gripped her hand, and she sat down again on the bedside chair. He closed his eyes almost immediately, and she waited for him to sleep.

-0-0-0-

'David Rossi has been beaten badly. He has two broken tibias, and a broken ankle. His collar bone is broken, as are a number of ribs.' the doctor said. 'There is serious damage to one foot which was torn from the nail. The other foot shouldn't be so bad, the nail is being removed in theatre. His face has been hit with a weapon, and he had deep cuts which are being fixed as we speak. The worst things are his hands. All his fingers and one thumb are broken in at least one place each. That's being dealt with in theatre. Also he has two shallow stab wounds'

'Is he going to be ok?' asked Morgan.

'He should be ok. None of the injuries in themselves are life threatening, but all together, well let's just say he's one of the strong ones.'

'What about Hotch?' Emily asked.

'Aaron Hotchner? Well his injury was life threatening, and we did lose him several times on the table. But each time we managed to bring him back.' he said. 'It was fortunate that no body removed the knife from his side, or he would have certainly bled out. He has wounds on his forehead and the back of his head. He is on plasma expanders and a drug to speed up the production of erythrocytes. The next few hours are critical.'

'We have another colleague in the hospital – Spencer Reid. We will be with him when there is more news.' Morgan said.

'Very well. I believe Mr. Reid is in Intensive Care on the fourth floor. I will come and find you there.'

And he was gone. Emily wanted to jump and shout for joy, but she kept in mind what he had said.

_The next few hours are critical......._

She followed Morgan out of the room to an elevator. He stepped inside and pressed the button for the fourth floor, and leaned against the back wall of the car.

'I can't believe we are here again. They hardly had time to recover from the last case, and this happens. When will they be allowed to recover?'

'Morgan. they were both offered time off after last time, and neither of them chose to take it. They both passed the psych eval, and were allowed back to work. But this happened out of work. I think this was going to happen anyway, as soon as the book signing was scheduled.'

'Guess so.' Morgan said. 'I just wish they had time to recover.....'

'Well maybe this time they won't be given the option.'

The lift stopped at the fourth floor and the two agents walked to Reid's room. They were surprised to see a nurse sitting with him, holding his hand. She looked up and smiled as Emily and Morgan came in. She explained to them why she was there.

'He was afraid to sleep on his own, so I said I'd sit with him until my break was over. Are you staying?'

Emily nodded. 'We came in with the other two agents that this man risked all to save.' she said. 'He really is a hero.'

'Have they told you anything?' the nurse asked.

'Not really. Why?' Morgan said, instantly worried.

'He's blind.' the nurse said. 'We're hoping it is temporary. It was either caused by head trauma or it id psychosomatic. Either way, it could come back at any time. It does appear that there is pressure on the optic nerve from brain swelling. But we will have to wait and see.'

Emily thanked the nurse and she left.

Emily sat by the bed and took the hand that the nurse had been holding. His fingers, long and slender, curled around hers instinctively knowing she was a friend. He turned his head towards her, and opened his eyes.

'Is that you, Emily?'

'Yes. And Morgan's here too.'

'They found Dave and Aaron.'

'Yes.' she said. 'They are in theatre. As soon as there is news they will come and tell us.'

'They know we are with you.'

Reid let out a shuddering sigh. He didn't want to see anyone. Only Aaron, as far as he knew, and probably the hospital staff, knew what he had been through, what Symmonds had done to him. But that was bad enough. He loved Aaron so much, and now he was filthy and disgusting, how could he ever face Aaron again? Tears welled up in his eyes and ran across the bridge of his nose into the pillow.

Misunderstanding, Emily said, 'The blindness is likely temporary, Spencer. Don't worry. It's going to be fine.'

'It isn't.' Spencer said, and pulled his hand away. He turned from Emily, facing the wall, and the tears flowed un checked. 'It will never be fine.' he said, scrunching the pillow up and crying into it.

Emily didn't know what to make of it. Morgan opened the door and beckoned her out.

'I don't understand.' Emily said. 'He should be so happy that the others are going to be ok.'

'Emily, think.' Morgan said. 'Symmonds, or Rush, whatever you want to call him, was out to appease his father, carry on his work.'

'Oh god. Carson Rush was a rapist. You don't think ........ Oh god.'

'I think it likely, judging from Reid's reaction.' Morgan said. 'But he can never know that we have guessed. It could send him over the edge.'

Emily and Morgan looked through the window that separated them from the room where Spencer was lying in the grip of a nightmare.

-0-0-0-

Spencer could see in his dreams, although it was dark. He felt rough hands cut into his clothes and tear into him. He felt the degradation and humiliation over and over, as the nightmare on an endless loop played through his brain. He felt the blood flow as his insides were ripped apart again and his own blood used as lubrication. He felt the hands grip at his back as Symmonds thrust against him again and again, and the weight of him as he climaxed and fell onto him. And the loop played again, and the tears flooded the pillow and Spencer wished he was dead.


	10. Winning and Losing

Retaliation  
Chapter 10  
Winning and Losing

"_**Courage is as often the outcome of despair as of hope; in the one case we have nothing to lose, in the other, everything to gain" – Diane de Pointiers**_

'We are going to put Hotchner and Rossi in the same room as Dr Reid.' the nurse said. 'Having their friends close is always an aid to recovery.'

Emily and Morgan were sitting outside Reid's room, both feeling the stress of the day, and distressed at Reid's rejection of any company. The Doctor had said that Dave was shortly to be joining them, but he would need further surgery on his face. He was in recovery.

Hotch too was out of theatre, but the next few hours for him were critical. He had lost a large proportion of his blood volume, and until that volume was replaced he would be in danger of heart failure. His heart had given out in theatre, and in the end had to have adrenalin injected directly to keep him alive.

It was still touch and go. Aaron was on two wide bore drips but it was as if they couldn't get the fluids in him fast enough. He hadn't come round after surgery, and so they decided to bring him to the ward hoping that the voices of people who cared about him would bring him round.

They wheeled the bed in next to Reid, Emily and Morgan followed, taking up station between the two beds. Reid was lying with his back to her, his hands clasped at his chest. Hotch by necessity had his arms stretched out on either side of him. Tentatively, Emily laid her hand over his.

He didn't move.

'I'll go and get coffee.' Morgan said. Emily smiled weakly up at him, nodding her head.

As Morgan left, she began to talk to Hotch. He didn't move, or respond to her, but Reid was awake, and he could hear her.

Aaron was in the room with them! The one person more than any other that he didn't want to see him, and he was right there next to him. Reid felt tears well up in his eyes again. How could he ever look at the man again, after what had happened to him? Filled as he was with self loathing, he tried to curl up smaller under the blanket. He crushed the damp pillow into his face and wept silently. He loved Aaron so much, and now this! He doubted that he would ever be able to look him in the eye again.

He listened to Emily's gentle words to Aaron, wishing he could go and hold his hand too. But that was out of the question. How could they love him? If they ever found out his life would be over.

Emily suddenly heard his soft cries of anguish and turned in her seat. Spencer had pressed himself as far away from them as possible, and she could see his back heaving in bitter sobs under the blanket.

'Spencer ...... ' she said gently. 'Hotch is here, he's going to be fine, but better if you would talk to him. It's your voice that will bring him out of this.'

She reached out and touched his slender shoulder through the blanket and was distressed when he flinched from her touch.

'Spencer,' she said again, 'I don't know what happened in that awful place, but I do know that you are all three still alive and you need each other now more than ever before. Please don't lock us out. We need you back again.'

Without turning over, Spencer said, 'You don't need me, Emily.' and his body once again was racked by sobs.

Just then she looked up and saw Morgan returning, and another bed being wheeled in. This was Dave, although he was unrecognisable in swathes of bandages and stitches across his face. Morgan stood to one side as they wheeled his bed into the other corner. He had no tube in his throat, but he was not awake yet from the anaesthetic.

She took her drink from Morgan and led him outside.

'I think you are right about Reid.' she said. 'I think the only one to help him is Hotch.'

'You are probably right. They have a sort of bond, don't they?'

'But Spencer didn't even turn over to see him. It must have been dreadful for him. I wish he'd let us in.'

'He will have to deal with it in his own time, Emily. We will just have to be there when he needs us.'

Emily lowered her eyes. 'Yes, but this is going to be difficult for them. I wish there was a way through.'

'In the meantime we need to be there for David when he wakes up. I don't know how he survived the pain those injuries must have put on him.'

They went back into the ward. Reid was asleep now, and the sobbing had abated. Hotch and Dave were still unconscious with their eyes closed. Hotch was on a respirator and heart monitor. The melancholy beeping of the machine measuring his heart made Emily's blood run cold in her veins. Dave had an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, and he was breathing deeply. She adjusted the mask so that it covered his face better.

'Ok, Rossi, we are here for you.' she said. He was on a pain killing drip and an IV to replace blood volume. She wished she could do something to alleviate the pain for him. His face wasn't restful in sleep, it was twisted with pain that only he knew of.

There was a magazine on the night stand, and Emily picked it up and began to read it out loud to the three of them.

'You go and get some sleep, Morgan.' she said. 'Come back later and relieve me.'

'Ok if you are sure.' he said. 'As long as they are not left alone.'

'I'll be here.'

-0-0-0-

The two agents took it in turns to sit with them. Spencer refused food, and they just about got him to accept water. But it was twenty four hours later that there was the first major change.

David opened his eyes.

Morgan was sitting with him when he came to. It was the middle of the night and Morgan was half asleep, but hearing a movement beside him brought him awake instantly.

'Rossi, welcome back.' he said smiling at the man. Dave tried to smile through the bandages around his head.

'Damned book.' he whispered. Morgan wanted to hug him, but most of Dave's body was injured in some way so any physical contact was unwise.

Dave was trying to sit up, and the agonies of his injuries hit him, and he fell back down again onto the bed. It felt distant, as if he was feeling someone else's pain, and he put that down to the medication. He looked around him.

'Aaron? Reid?' he said softly.

'They are both here, Rossi.'

'I need to speak to them.....please.'

Never had Dave felt such an overwhelming guilt as he felt at that moment. His two friends had suffered terribly because if the book he had written, and he vowed he would never allow his ego to pressure him into writing again. He needed to tell them he was sorry, and make it up to them, but somehow he didn't think anything he said or did would be able to counter what had happened.

'Hotch is still unconscious, but Reid is awake. I'll tell him you want him.' Morgan said. I'll go and get some coffee and leave you to it.'

He crossed the room to Reid who was curled up against the wall. He was still refusing food, and now had a glucose drip in his arm. The thought of eating made him want to be sick. He heard someone speaking to him. Morgan.

'Rossi has woken up, Kid. He needs to talk to you.' Morgan said, refraining from touching the young profiler, he turned and left the room.

Reid turned towards Dave. Hotch was lying very still in the bed between them, and as Reid tried to sit up, that was who he saw in his mind's eye. He imagined he saw the whiteness of Aaron's skin, and the tight pain filled expression on his face. Although Aaron was unconscious, Reid could feel his agonies, and dreaded the moment when he would have to face him. Confused thoughts rushed through his mind as he wanted Aaron to wake up, but not while he was there.

Dave hadn't seen what had happened to him. Reid made a concerted effort to get off the bed and go and sit with Dave. He swung his legs off the bed and walked unsteadily around Aaron, hanging onto the IV stand and the bed for support. It wasn't his first time out of bed, but it was the first time without help. His legs felt like jelly and he was grateful to be able to sit in the vinyl covered chair next to the bed.

'Hello, David.' he said self consciously.

Dave turned his head to look at Reid. This was the man who, even after having been beaten, beaten in fact until he was blinded, had gone out into the darkness to get help. A brave man, next to whom David was proud to work.

'I'm sorry.' he said. His voice was quiet and shaky. He reached out a bandaged hand to touch the younger man, unsure what to expect, hoping it would be forgiveness, even though he knew in his heart they he was undeserving of such.

Reid trapped in his darkened world tried not to flinch as Dave's hand brushed against his. Dave was sorry? What for? Surely he didn't blame himself for what happened to them. Had he seen? Did he know?

'Wh-what are you sorry for, David. It is the UnSub's fault, not yours.' Reid's voice was shaky from being racked by sobs.

'My ego almost got us killed.' he said softly. 'That book – if I hadn't written it, none of this would have happened. So I'm sorry.'

Spencer was shocked. It hadn't occurred to him that Rossi might blame himself. He had his own guilt to deal with – passing out before he could tell his colleagues where David and Aaron were. Almost leaving it too late. Being weak.

If that woman hadn't stopped, they would have died.

'Please, David, don't blame yourself. It was Symmonds' fault, not yours.' Very carefully he curled his fingers around Dave's bandaged hand and held it gently. He didn't say anything, but a special bond was forming there; two men who both loved the same man, yet never expected love back again, and that man still in grave danger.

Dave was grateful for Reid's words. He was amazed by the strength the man had, able to hold it together even while blinded. He pushed his ego out of the way and thought of his colleagues. Aaron was still unconscious. He had almost bled out in the hut, and it was only by sheer strength of will that he had survived. He loved Aaron Hotchner more than life itself, and he was lying close to death only feet from him. He thought that Reid's forgiveness was given too freely. He knew how Reid felt about Hotch. If he died, how could they work together? He would never be able to look him in the eye.

When this was all over, he would leave the team. He didn't deserve to be part of it any more. He turned towards the ceiling again.

It was at that moment that there was a movement in the bed beside them. Reid turned instantly to Hotch who was in the grip on a seizure. Reid reached for him, but Aaron's body jerked and twisted on the bed. The clanging of alarms brought nurses and doctors into the room in time to see Hotch cry out and finally collapse back onto the bed and lie motionless, the alarms now sounding out a single long high note. Aaron's heart had stopped again, brought on by the convulsion.

'Aaron!' Dave cried out as the man he loved lay sprawled out on the bed. He wanted to get to him, help him, do whatever he could to save him, but he wasn't able to get off the bed. 'Help him! Don't let him die!' he cried out to the medics that were surrounding the bed.

Reid stood confused and desperate to know what was going on.

'What's happening?' he said to Dave, terrified of the answer.

'I think...... I think we just lost Aaron......'


	11. Endings

Retaliation  
Chapter 11  
Endings

"_**Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the **__**end**__** of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow'.**__**" – Mary Anne Radmacher**_

Dave tried to see past the medics surrounding Aaron, desperate to see what was happening and at the same time terrified of what he would see.

Then he heard the word, 'Clear.' and he knew what that meant. He gripped Reid's hand and waited. He didn't pray, but today he made an exception. He didn't know what he would do if Aaron died, due to him.

'I am so sorry.' he whispered. Reid heard him.

'This wasn't down to you, Rossi. It was Symmonds' fault, and you must not blame yourself.'

Dave blinked back the tears that were threatening to overflow down his cheeks. Writing the book had been good for him at the time. All his inner demons were committed to paper and thereby washed from his psyche. But the imprint was still there, and he felt them flooding over him again, tearing at his very soul.

Logically, Reid was right. This was Symmond's fault. But he could only think that if he hadn't written the book, Hotch wouldn't be dying........

'Clear!'

He couldn't see Hotch, but he heard the sound of his body crashing down on the bed.

How could Reid be so ready to forgive when it was the man he loved in such grave danger.

Reid broke into his reverie.

'Is he alive?'

'I don't know, Spencer.' he said. 'I can't see.'

'Clear!'

'Sinus rhythm restored!'

The wailing alarm stopped and was replaced by the rhythmic pulse of Aaron's heart beat. One of the medics turned to Dave and Spencer.

'We got him back again.' she said. Dave noticed that Spencer was crying from his unseeing eyes.

-0-0-0-

Hotch felt the last shock pass through him, dragging him out of the dark place into the now. He felt the headache as though it was from a distance, and the dull throb in his side where the knife had been. He saw images pass across his inner sight, images of Jack and Haley in happier days; memories that would always remain in the past. He tried to claw his way back down into oblivion, but the pressure of the shock wouldn't let him.

The guilt of failing his team was a heavy load for him to carry. He remembered Dave was beaten unconscious, and had been tortured. He had allowed the UnSub to snatch Dave from under his nose, and he had got himself stabbed by falling for the oldest trick in the book.

And What of Spencer? He had been brutally raped right in front of him, and he had done nothing to prevent it from happening. How was he going to live with that? He had gone to get help alone in the forest. What terrors had he been through due to his, Aaron's, inability to keep his team safe?

Guilt haunted him and screamed, 'It's your fault.' at him like a terrible banshee. He fought against the shock across his chest, but failed again, and he became aware of hands touching him, easing him back into life.

_Please leave me alone........_

-0-0-0-

Reid sat on Dave's bed and wiped the tears from his face. He couldn't bear the thought of living on without Aaron by his side, and he almost collapsed with relief that he was all right. He was trapped in this dark world, and didn't believe that he would be able to function without Aaron. He released his grip on Dave's bandaged hand and reached out for Hotch. He took a step towards the bed, leaning on the IV stand. He touched Aaron's hot flushed skin and stroked his face.

_Aaron, I love you, and I am so sorry......_

He made his way slowly around the bed and pressed the bell. When the nurse arrived he beckoned her over.

'Please, would it be possible to move to another room?' he said softly. He didn't want Rossi to hear and try to talk him out of it. He knew what he was doing. He couldn't face Aaron, knowing what he had allowed the UnSub to do to him – he was soiled and dirty now, no longer worthy of the deep affection Aaron had for him. He needed to quit the BAU and never see Aaron again.

-0-0-0-

Dave leaned as far as he could towards Aaron.

'Aaron. You gave us quite a scare.' he said. 'Welcome back.'

Hotch turned towards Dave. He wanted so much to speak to his friend. There was so much he wanted to say, but the respirator tube prevented it. He lifted his hand off the bed and reached for him, and Dave returned the gesture.

Hotch turned to Spencer's bed, but he wasn't there.

-0-0-0-

Reid was standing by the nurses' station rubbing at his eyes. He was seeing light for the first time since the beating in the hut. Was his sight coming back?

'Do you still want to move rooms?' she asked. 'because there is a spare one at the end of the corridor, but are you sure you want to move? It would help your friends' recovery if you are all together.'

'No, it wouldn't.' he said emphatically. 'I need to move.' He rubbed at his eyes again. 'I think my sight is coming back.'

END

A/N – This is only a short chapter, I know. But I will be starting the sequel now. Called Fixation. I hope you enjoy it.


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